Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Bandaids Are a Bonus

I finally took the Reverend Dr. Biggles' advice and had my motley collection of bought and inherited knives professionally sharpened. In an earlier, less enlightened post, I had blogged about my satisfaction with having sharp knives in my kitchen, thanks to my handy dandy electric sharpener - and was laughed to scorn by the aforementioned Biggles for being satisfied with that pathetic level of lethality in my cutlery.

My good friend, Barbara Giles, an artist of incredible creativity, beauty and determination, has recently taken up the skill of knife sharpening. Artists in our culture can rarely make a living from their work, no matter how gorgeous and ingenious it is, so she learned from an experienced craftsman and now has her own business. I took her six of my knives to be sharpened and she gave me some loaners to use in the meantime. Even the loaners were a revelation, sharp and sure. I picked up my own knives today and the difference, before and after, is amazing.

Dammit, Biggles was right.Biggles, I bow to your superior knowledge. Barbara, thank you from the bottom of my cook's heart.

Go let Barbara help you, too. Six knives for the bargain price of $25 (currently - get 'em while she's still an unknown!). www.barbaragilessharpeningservice.com. She is in Novato. She is a goddess. And your knives come back with her signature bandaid attached.

9 Comments:

In theory, you won't need the bandaids - Dull knives cut, not sharp ones...Of course, if you do manage to cut yourself with a sharp knife...I get mine sharpened regularly. In Andorra, we had a guy on a bicycle with a knife sharpener strapped to the back that rode around the villages..

I will need the bandaids because I cut myself with everything. I long ago gave up trying to figure out from where the mystery nicks on my hands have come. Heck. I gave myself a papercut on my tongue the other day while licking an envelope shut.

If you have good knives, it's worth getting them done professionally. It's usually dull knives that create more injuries because you're struggling with the cutting implement and using far too much force (so I've been told).;